Monthly Archive for December, 2011

: December, 2011

Nurturing the next generation of policymakers was a key focus in 2011, as the James A. Baker III Institute for Public Policy offered students the chance to participate in internships, events and private meetings with notable statesmen and scholars. In 2012, the Baker Institute will expand these opportunities by engaging more students in the important work of public policy. …

With the death of North Korean Supreme Leader Kim Jong Il, which was announced yesterday, we enter a nervous new phase in Asian diplomacy. Korea watchers have known that Kim Jong Il’s health was not well for some time. His death is something we knew was coming, but there are many possible outcomes it could produce. Thus, there are some very important potential developments that should be considered by the United States, South Korea, Japan, Russia and (not least) China.

The most important question regards succession of supreme power from Kim Jong Il to an heir or regent. Kim’s youngest son, Kim Jong Un, has been named the hereditary successor to his father, as his other brothers are viewed as marginal or irresponsible. (Some years ago, one brother was detained by Japanese authorities attempting to enter the country on a false third-country passport.) The important item to consider in this area is that we can assume that the North Koreans have been preparing for this moment, and that Kim Jong Un will be made out to be legitimate by the country’s internal propaganda organs.

Imagine a world without cell phones or the Internet and how difficult it would be to go about conducting the normal tasks of living without those devices. Now try and imagine that you are a multinational transport organization trying to move your product in a timely manner to a waiting customer and suddenly your communications are gone. How do you track your product, communicate with your drivers or know if your product was delivered? Are we describing a transport company hit by an Internet virus? Not in this case — although when it comes to communicating, the similarities are strikingly similar between a civilian shipper and a drug cartel.

Our global society has developed a deep reliance on communications devices of every kind, and that need to communicate translates into a critical dependency for the drug cartels trying to move drugs into the United States from Mexico. “Command, Communications and Control” are the three elements of a system that allows any enterprise to function effectively in a fluid environment. To remove any one of these components — especially communications — is to deny any enterprise the ability to coordinate and succeed in completing the critical aspects of their business cycle.

One of the most popular speaker events at the Baker Institute is the Science and Technology Policy Program’s Civic Scientist Lecture Series, which features leading scientists who have had a significant and positive impact on public policy. This year’s guest was National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) administrator Jane Lubchenco who spoke recently on the challenges and opportunities for scientists to engage with and serve society. Watch a video of her remarks after the jump. …

In a recent Houston Chronicle op-ed, information technology fellow Christopher Bronk explains why two new bills in Congress, aimed at reducing vulnerability in the nation’s cyber infrastructure, are not a viable solution for increasing digital security. According to Bronk, the Preventing Online Threats to Economic Creativity and Theft of Intellectual Property (PROTECT IP) Act and the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) attempt to enact legislation on digital crime without a complete understanding of how the Internet and computing technology works. …

Join us today for a live webcast of an Energy Forum conference about the future of China’s role in the energy sector and the global economy.

China will play a major role in shaping long-term global energy trends. Already, China’s growing economy has been a driver of global commodity markets in recent years. Soaring Chinese oil and natural gas demand has become a major feature influencing global energy market trends, and emerging shifts in Chinese energy and economic policy could potentially alter the future geopolitical and economic landscape.

The conference “The Rise of China and Its Energy Implications” investigates these trends and shifts by bringing together senior Chinese and U.S. officials, leading financial and energy analysts, academic scholars, and global oil industry leaders to address the emerging path of China’s energy sector as a transforming energy landscape shapes China’s economic role in relation the United States. Findings from a major Baker Institute energy study will be publicly released at this event. The study includes papers on Chinese energy policy and energy demand trends, Chinese oil and gas investment trends, and energy in the U.S.-China bilateral relationship.

This November, Houston’s elections for mayor, controller and City Council produced some surprises. Incumbent Mayor Annise Parker was re-elected but only avoided a run-off by less than 1 percent of the votes cast, the smallest margin in a general election since Mayor Lee Brown was forced into a run-off in 2001. Moreover, several incumbent council members found their own electoral margins smaller than expected, including at-large Council Members Stephen Costello, Melissa Noriega and Jolanda Jones and District A Council Member Brenda Stardig. Jones and Stardig will be in run-off elections on Dec. 10.

Why did so many incumbent officeholders have difficulty in their re-election bids? Surely a weak local and national economy comes to mind as a reason for voter dissatisfaction, especially when incumbent officeholders were responsible to cutting services and raising fees in a weak economy. But if this was the cause of declining vote margins for incumbent officeholders, why didn’t all incumbents suffer a diminution in their electoral margins?